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Screen Brightness on new 15"s

dusk007

dusk007

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 5, 2009
3,422
113
Unfortunately all I can find from test online either don't give any values or have the standard glossy or high res AG. There is no high res glossy anywhere.
When reading the anandtech article and notebookcheck you'll notice the high res AG is quite a bit brighter. That is as bright as only some high nit tablet displays have been before and only T400 high nits are brighter but they suck in contrast ratios.
Everything else I found be it standard glossy 15" or 17" the brightness is always arround 270-300 cd/m².

Did anand just got lucky? or is the matte brighter? or is just the 15" high res brighter?
It might be reasonable that they put better brighter leds into a display that is matte and more likely to be used outside but many manufactures just make everything better on better panels to give them more wow factor.
Can anybody give some insight on the matter. Maybe you can compare the max brightness with an older model from a friend or a store.
The difference between 300 and 400 should be noticeable.
If anybody got a 15" high res glossy that would be interesting as most people only decide between standard or AG high res, where the latter will most likely look better.
 
definitely a difference

I compared the screen on my old Santa Rosa macbook pro 15" and my 2010 i5 15" hires glossy. Noticed that:

1) On Max the Santa Rosa screen was definitely brighter, I could never run with it at that level - ever. I can with my 2010 i5

2) However they are both on par when scaled back to half brightness.
 
I found a test on notebookcheck with an old Santa Rosa and they seem to be as bright as the current 2010 displays. 20cd/m² brighter but that is not a 100cd/m² difference. I guess they just have quite bit of variation in screen brightness.
But the really bright screens are only reported on AG now. Maybe because most have the AG here.

Outside in sunlight the high brightness is useful if you have to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from surrounding stuff like the reflections of the aluminium bezel alone.
 
dusk007 said:
I found a test on notebookcheck with an old Santa Rosa and they seem to be as bright as the current 2010 displays. 20cd/m² brighter but that is not a 100cd/m² difference. I guess they just have quite bit of variation in screen brightness.
But the really bright screens are only reported on AG now. Maybe because most have the AG here.
Click to expand...

I think your right, the only super bright screens on the 2010 models are the 15 AG. Most of the glossy screens seem very dim on the new generation MBPs. (dim compared to the 2008/9 models anyways)
 
Thunder82 said:
I think your right, the only super bright screens on the 2010 models are the 15 AG. Most of the glossy screens seem very dim on the new generation MBPs. (dim compared to the 2008/9 models anyways)
Click to expand...

Comparing my 15" i5 glossy screen is brighter than my 13" late 2007 macbook, I'm also not using it on full brightness because its really bright.
 
based on the german info the 15 and 17 should have the same brightness and the 13 is less bright. i think my c2d 17 is brighter than my new 15. it seem based in this post and a similar post that i did this morning switching to 13 or 17 will not add brightness unless i get anti glare?
 
F*** Then i Don´t know if I will buy the new Macbook Pro. :( Maybe an HP Envy.

I hate dark screens. Why Apple.

Please tell me the screens are bright!
 
yea i am not a fan of dimmer screens. thought about switching to a 17 but dont think that will increase brightness.
 
Thunder82 said:
I think your right, the only super bright screens on the 2010 models are the 15 AG. Most of the glossy screens seem very dim on the new generation MBPs. (dim compared to the 2008/9 models anyways)
Click to expand...
I agree, mines matte and a friends is glossy and it is definitely less bright. We were surprised at this and did not notice it being such a huge difference till we put his and mine side by side.
 
wirelessmacuser said:
I agree, mines matte and a friends is glossy and it is definitely less bright. We were surprised at this and did not notice it being such a huge difference till we put his and mine side by side.
Click to expand...

I got the MacBook Pro i7 15 with the Anti-Glare and by reading the posts on here, I made the right decision as I need the screen to be as bright as possible due to vision issues. It should be here on Friday!:)
 
When my new 17" matte/AG screen MacBook Pro arrives, around Wednesday, I'll take pictures, comparing it to my friend's 2009 17" matte/AG screen MBP, and to my 2006 17" matt/AG screen MBP.
 
Mirabella said:
When my new 17" matte/AG screen MacBook Pro arrives, around Wednesday, I'll take pictures, comparing it to my friend's 2009 17" matte/AG screen MBP, and to my 2006 17" matt/AG screen MBP.
Click to expand...


Thanks,
As someone who has both a Dell XPS 16 laptop and a MacBookPro AG (soon) The screen according to Anandtech is the brightnest they have seen brighter then the HR Glossy for sure from the posts around here at least:)
 
I have both a 15" & 17" MBP Core i7's. Each has the Hi-Res, Anti Glare display. The 15" is just a bit brighter than the 17" if I turn down the 15" one increment they are the same. A friend bought a 15" i7 Glossy from the Apple store because he was impatient and they only carry glossy. We were really surprised at how dim his is by comparison. If you didn't see them side by side it would surprise you. He found it unacceptable and returned it. Then ordered a matte CTO online.
 
wirelessmacuser said:
I have both a 15" & 17" MBP Core i7's. Each has the Hi-Res, Anti Glare display. The 15" is just a bit brighter than the 17" if I turn down the 15" one increment they are the same. A friend bought a 15" i7 Glossy from the Apple store because he was impatient and they only carry glossy. We were really surprised at how dim his is by comparison. If you didn't see them side by side it would surprise you. He found it unacceptable and returned it. Then ordered a matte CTO online.
Click to expand...

was your friends glossy high res?
 
during the day or in a lit room i usually have my brightness pretty high just because it doesn't bother my eyes. but in the dark when im laying out on my couch watching tv like i am right now, i can barely withstand the brightness on medium. so i would say thats the true test. testing it out in the dark. and the brightness on max is unbearable. so i think the mbp 15" brightness is powerful!
 
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